The greatest World Cup illustrations from 2014

The World Cup, being a ridiculously exciting global event, brings a lot of opportunity for designers to create something that turns viral. Some artists have recreated team kits; others have illustrated important game events or even made team posters – all very awesome, and very shareable.

Let’s take a look at some of the best World Cup illustrations that have been floating around.

This designer has done a great job of creating posters for every team in the World Cup. So far they have proven to be the most viral of all the illustrations we’ve seen, getting widely printed as proper posters, stickers, etc. Siqueira expertly captures the character of each nation in his posters, highlighting their soccer team “nicknames” as well as their most notable players.

Here’s the concept for this series: “Every match day, artist Simon Prades will illustrate one defining moment from the latest drama in Brazil.” With all the drama that has been going on in the World Cup, Prades has had plenty of highlights to choose from. Very rough, sketch-like and dramatic, Prades’ unique illustrations capture these memorable moments in the style of a vivid comic strip.

Here is The Netherlands’ Arjen Robben getting fouled in the box for a penalty kick to clinch the game against Mexico:

And here is the “one centimeter away from glory” shot by Chile’s Mauricio Pinilla that hit the crossbar just as time expired in regulation against Brazil. Had the shot went in, Chile would have advanced to the quarterfinals:

Prades’ most recent illustration features Tim Howard of the United States during yesterday’s game against Belgium. Howard broke the record for the most saves by a keeper in the World Cup since the 1960s (16 saves):

André Chiote, a Portuguese artist, created a series of illustrations featuring the World Cup’s most iconic stadiums. Chiote believes that “the new architectural objects are landmarks in the cities that will perpetuate in the future as a cultural and social legacy”. Chiote uses a simple color palette, featuring Brazil’s national colors. According to Chiote, “As a national statement, I thought it was an interesting approach to use the colours of Brazil’s flag to produce iconic images of some new symbols of that country.”